GOLD Coast has lost three games on the trot, the latest a 45-point defeat at the hands of Geelong, but coach Damien Hardwick insists the Suns aren't too off the boil.

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With Hawthorn and Fremantle to come in the next two weeks, Gold Coast needs to right the ship, and quickly, with Hardwick pointing to the conversion into attack as the major issue.

"We had ample opportunities, we just didn't take them inside 50. We kicked relatively poorly at goal, missed opportunities inside 50, and I thought they kicked some unbelievable goals," Hardwick said.

"I know the scoreboard probably said at stages – up until three-quarter time it was 30 points – I think the game felt a lot closer than that from my point of view. I think they executed better inside 50 and took their chances.

"I thought [the midfield battle] was pretty even. It's hard when you're in the game, you don't look at it from that perspective. I thought we had chances to get the ball clear out of the middle of the ground, and just failed to take our chances as well as we could.

"At the end of the day, Geelong defends skinny, so you have to go round them. You have to go inside to go outside. I think the template and the blueprint was pretty solid. I thought we had ample opportunities to hit a winning score, we just couldn't connect inside 50. I think we transitioned in mid-20s at this ground, which is pretty tough to do, I thought we did a reasonable job of that. There's a way to play them, they show you the way to play.

"Our template and identity in the way of how we're playing is in reasonable shape, we've just got to execute moments better. I thought there were ample opportunities where we could have won a contested ball, but they were bigger, stronger and got it done."

While not identifying particular examples, Hardwick took exception to several umpiring decisions.

"I thought there were challenges throughout the game – the lasso rule where it comes off a guy's foot indiscriminately, I don't know. That's not what the rule's for, for mine. If someone kicks it out of bounds, absolutely, but if we're knocking it off someone's foot, and they're looking at that – they need to change it, it's an easy change," he said.

"I think it's a ridiculous look, where the ball trickles off a guy's toe that's been hit into – it's not like he's deliberately kicked it out of bounds. It's not the reason we won or lost. I just think we change a lot of things, just change that.

"At the end of the day, it was like the Roman Colosseum. They (umpires) were waiting, then the crowd would do this one (indicated a thumbs down), and all of a sudden it was a free kick. At the end of the day, it is what it is. Home advantage, we understand that. You know you're up against it from the start. But a couple of them weren't there."

Scott was happy with the full-team effort from his side, particularly highlighting the work of Mitch Edwards and Sam De Koning in the ruck in assisting their midfielders.

"I thought the game was pretty hot early. They didn't completely jump us, but I think they got a couple of goals ahead, and looked pretty sharp. We weren't thinking about how we could exploit them, we just didn't see that many holes in the way they played, to be thinking about how we could go after certain things. It was more about mitigating the damage that they're capable of," Scott said.

"I think that's the most pleasing thing – while some of their good players still did good things, I didn't think they all got away from us too much at one time. Obviously that's much more than individual match-ups, it's a reflection on the way the team played. 

"To our eye, they still looked dangerous at times, but it didn't look like round zero (Opening Round, where the Cats lost by 56 points), where they just found ways to score that surprised us."

With a trip to Perth next week to face the competition's pace-setter in Fremantle, Scott forecasted a possible rest for veteran Patrick Dangerfield.

Jack Bowes (hamstring tightness) was a late withdrawal on Friday night, but is likely to face the Dockers.

"Jeremy (Cameron) will definitely play, then Pat – we had talked about this period through the bye. We play the best team in the comp, and the team who's won the last two premierships in the next two games, so maybe that makes it a little bit harder," Scott said.

"I think we've got a pretty good record for about 15 years on this stuff, we don't look too much at the opposition when making these decisions. Pat's a little more of a function of how he's going. The feedback is he's going pretty well. So it's likely he'll put his hands up. But if we don't take him, you shouldn't be shocked.

"[Bowes] had some hamstring tightness during the week. As is our practice, we like to give them right up until an hour before the game to prove their fitness. The feedback was he could have played. We have a trip to Perth next week, and we thought it was a safer option to hold him back. The feedback is it's very likely he'll be okay for next week."